FREE MILLSTONE FOR VIPs
Mark 9:38-50
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 26)|
Analysis by Matt Knuppel
38John said to , “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
42“If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
49“For everyone will be salted with fire. 50Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’
Through Christ, we can rightly see the Church as a place where those who are bought with His broken body may have His “peace with one another,” not a special club for social elites.
Author’s Introduction:
A. John, one of the “Sons of Thunder,” lives up to his zealous reputation by rebuking a rogue exorcist. Yet where there is false intolerance and exclusion, jealousy and division often follow. The exorcist was not part of the officially chosen disciples, but he operates “in name.” Jesus has come to be the Messiah of “the other”; tax collectors, lepers, prostitutes, etc. Although the exorcist is an “other,” he belongs to Jesus by virtue of His Name. By the Name of Jesus, the outsider becomes the insider.
B. Verse 41 can be seen as a reflection of the Kingdom theology in Matthew 25: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” When love and service is performed in Jesus’s name “to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” Jesus not only mediates between God & humanity, but between humanity & humanity.
C. The weight of the word “stumble” (“skandalise” in Greek) must be understood to include a sense of rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. It is not simply a warning against causing others to “make a mistake,” but against causing others to walk away from Jesus entirely. By failing to believe in Jesus as He truly reveals Himself, the one who causes the “stumbling” becomes a stumbler themselves.
D. While “little ones” could be interpreted to include children, it is more broadly speaking of those new to following Jesus, or “little ones” in the faith. In this sense, as an apparent newcomer to the mission “in Jesus’s name,” the exorcist falls under the category of “little ones.”
DIAGNOSIS: Treating the Church as an Exclusive Club
Step 1-Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Disciples Playing “Us” vs. “Them”
The disciples are scandalized by an exorcist working in Jesus’s name who isn’t “one of them.” Because the exorcist was not one of the specially chosen disciples, they take offense at his mission and seek to halt him. Although they hoped Jesus would commend them, He instead takes the opportunity to rebuke their prideful view of their standing as the 12.
Step 2-Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): The Outsider Messiah
The disciples see their participation in Jesus’s mission as VIP exclusives. By operating under a sense of “us” vs. “them,” they fail to put their faith in Jesus as One who comes to save the “thems” we like to create: strangers, political opposites, those of different classes, races, incomes, etc. By pushing the exorcist away from Jesus, they put the exorcist in danger of “stumbling.”
Step 3-Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem): Rejecting “Them” Means Becoming a “Them.”
Those causing “little ones” to stumble are not a special case of Machiavellian agitators within the Church, but includes anyone who plays the “us” vs. “them” game with the Body of Christ. By building boundaries never intended by Christ, we cause little ones to stumble and set ourselves up for the punishment He describes: a millstone around our neck, thrown into Gehenna, never to enter Eternal Life. In the end, those who play “us” vs. “them” ironically make themselves a “them.”
PROGNOSIS: Rescued From Sinking
Step 4-Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution): Jesus the Sinking Messiah
When we are found to be sinking into Gehenna because of our prideful insistence on being more special than the others, Jesus sinks down to Sheol with us to redeem our lives from the pit. Under the weight of the cross and submerged into sin, Jesus keeps sinking down where we deserve to be while we are pulled out to safety and peace with God (the “sweet exchange”).
Step 5-Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Christ Breaks His Body for Us
At our failure to “cut off” from our bodies that which causes us to sin, Jesus “cuts off” His body for the forgiveness of our sins, distributing Himself across His Church in order that we may keep our bodies whole and united to Him. In this precious Sacrament, Jesus gives us “salt in ourselves” by granting faith in Him as the undivided Messiah for all.
Step 6-Final Prognosis (External Solution): No “VIP” But Christ
Through Christ, we can rightly see the Church as a place where those who are bought with His broken body may have His “peace with one another,” not a special club for social elites. He equips us to share this peace and extend the arm of His love and fellowship to the “thems” and “little ones” we encounter.
